The invention relates to an apparatus for transporting bulk materials, more particularly for discharging ships, having an endless series of buckets which are fixed to spaced links of a chain device movable in circulation which is guided over return pulleys, whilst the buckets are adapted to be emptied by a discharge chute when passing over a top return pulley.
Apparatuses of this kind are used e.g., in known bucket chain dredgers. Here the spacing interval of the buckets is generally four to six chain divisions, and is therefore relatively long. The long bucket spacing interval produces favourable conditions for the emptying process, because the emptying of the bucket which is just passing the top return pulley is not obstructed by the preceding bucket which has already been emptied.
In ship discharge installations the transport capacity of such apparatus having buckets fixed to a circulating chain device is frequently insufficient and the buckets therefore have to be arranged at shorter intervals. However, a shorter interval creates difficulties in the emptying process, because bulk material running out of the bucket which is just tipping falls onto the back of the preceding bucket. This causes the bulk material to be scattered in an uncontrollable manner so that it cannot be caught completely--e.g. by a chute and a conveyor belt.
In known apparatus for discharging ships, having buckets fixed to a circulating chain device, such as are described e.g. in DL-PS No. 6,656, in DT-PS No. 2,109,213 or in DT-OS No. 2,334,976, this problem is not solved or is solved only in a rather complicated manner. The spillage of bulk material cannot be prevented and a statically unfavourable oblique position of the chain device and/or a complicated guidance of the chain device in its upper region with generously dimensioned catching and/or conveyor devices is necessary to catch and further transmit the scattering bulk material.
A further disadvantage of known apparatus having buckets fixed to circulating chain devices is the discontinuous discharge of the bulk material from the consecutively tipping buckets.
The underlying object of this invention is to produce an apparatus which minimises or eliminates the above mentioned disadvantages and achieves a more controlled emptying of the buckets tipping at a top return pulley.